Cratering And Penetration Experiments In Teflon Targets At Velocities From 1 To 7 Km S

Author : National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781723549038
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (49 download)

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Download or read book Cratering and Penetration Experiments in Teflon Targets at Velocities from 1 to 7 Km/s written by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-07-24 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Approximately 20 sq m of protective thermal blankets, largely composed of Teflon, were retrieved from the Long Duration Exposure Facility after the spacecraft spent approximately 5.7 years in space. Examination of these blankets revealed that they contained thousands of hypervelocity impact features ranging from micron-sized craters to penetration holes several millimeters in diameter. We conducted impact experiments to reproduce such features and to understand the relationships between projectile size and the resulting crater or penetration hole diameter over a wide range of impact velocities. Such relationships are needed to derive the size and mass frequency distribution and flux of natural and man-made particles in low-earth orbit. Powder propellant and light-gas guns were used to launch soda-lime glass spheres into pure Teflon targets at velocities ranging from 1 to 7 km/s. Target thickness varied over more than three orders of magnitude from finite halfspace targets to very thin films. Cratering and penetration of massive Teflon targets is dominated by brittle failure and the development of extensive spall zones at the target's front and, if penetrated, the target's rear side. Mass removal by spallation at the back side of Teflon targets may be so severe that the absolute penetration hole diameter can become larger than that of a standard crater. The crater diameter in infinite halfspace Teflon targets increases, at otherwise constant impact conditions, with encounter velocity by a factor of V (exp 0.44). In contrast, the penetration hole size in very thin foils is essentially unaffected by impact velocity. Penetrations at target thicknesses intermediate to these extremes will scale with variable exponents of V. Our experimental matrix is sufficiently systematic and complete, up to 7 km/s, to make reasonable recommendations for velocity-scaling of Teflon craters and penetrations. We specifically suggest that cratering behavior and associated equations apply to...